Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon

I am so relieved. I need Oklahoma towards my 50 state marathon goal.  But I have been worried about finishing ever since I registered.  They have a strict 6:30 time limit, and I know that I often take longer.  But I also know that I have beat that time many times.

Today was tough.  It was really cold and windy at the start and I was happy but also worried that I might be too cold.  I started out fast for me. I got to mile 5 in one hour, which is kind of my top speed.  As the time wore on, I did slow down but happily beat 3 hours to the halfway point.  But after halfway, I usually tend to slow down.  So reaching my goal was in question.  They had an intermediate time limit of noon for the 20 mile point.  Since I was in corral D I was worried because even though the official race start was 6:30 am my corral didn't start until 6:55. Of course I worried that I wouldn't be able to make up that 25 minutes.  But I easily reached mile 20 at around 11:30.  But around that time, I started having terrible pains in my toes of my right foot.  My toes seemed to get numb then felt like very bad cramps.  I kept stopping and making my laces looser and looser.  It was worse any time I had to run uphill.  The course had gentle hills, but many of them.  The downhills saved my speed every time I reached one.  But I was still sweating the time limit right up until the moment I crossed the finish line, at 6:23:06. It was certainly not a time to be proud of, but I could hardly be happier.  I finished, I made it, I got an official time and I got my medal.  Best of all, I got Oklahoma!  Now I only have to run Wyoming in August with Mainly Marathons.  Since they have no time limit on their races, I know I will finish my states in August.

New shoes are in order. The ones I ran with today now have 9 marathons and about 250 miles on them. They feel like they have lost all of their cushion.  Plus, the tread is almost worn off the front half of both soles.

It was a nice race and for a good cause.  It is run each year in memory of all the lives lost in the senseless bombing in Oklahoma City in April 1995.  It's sad that such things ever happen in our modern world.  I really wonder if mankind will ever learn to simply love one another and stop the destruction and hateful senseless loss of life.

Finish